Retired teacher recognized

Retired Adelanto teacher Linda Delay was recently awarded with a certificate of excellence by the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools for her volunteer work at a local church.

As the director of The Apple Valley Church for Whosoever's literacy program, Delay has spent the last 12 years aiding kindergarten through third-grade students who struggle with reading.

The program aims to help at risk students who are struggling with reading, although the course specializes in numbers and print as well.

“My favorite part is to see that light go on when they get excited. We work with the self esteem the most, telling them, ‘You can do it.’” Delay said. “When kids know they are loved, it’s amazing what they will try to do.”

When a child joins the program, they are given a pretest to establish what areas they are struggling in. Once the students complete the program, they take the test again to compare what they have learned.

“Each child has their own education plan,” Delay said. “We start wherever they are at and take them as far as they can go.”

Any kindergarten through third-grade student may join the program, however, transportation is only available for Phoenix Academy students. After school ends, a van transports Phoenix Academy students from campus to the church on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but they must find transportation home.

“One of the biggest challenges is transportation. We work mostly with low-income families,” Delay said. “A lot of the students don’t have a ride home. I had one student say to me, ‘I don’t think I am going to be coming back, I don’t have a car anymore.’”

Once the students arrive at the program they are allowed a bit of play time followed by a hot meal. Delay said the program had been providing small snacks, but she felt small snacks were “not enough.”

“We didn’t have the money for hot meals but I said we would find the funds for it somewhere because the snacks were not enough,” Delay said. “I know how it feels when you don’t know if you are going to have a hot meal when you get home.”

Although Delay “drug her heels” at first when creating the program, she has enjoyed her time with the students and hopes to find another enthusiastic volunteer willing to be trained as her replacement in the future.

“I would like to find someone who is not as old as me to train. I don’t know how many more years I can do this,” Delay said.

Chico Garza, representing County Superintendent of Schools Ted Alejandre, made a trip to the Apple Valley church to present Delay with the award. Garza then returned to the church in the following weeks with an additional Certificate of Excellence for pastor Royce Beserra for “his continued support of the children in the community through his church's sponsorship of the Literacy Program.”

“It’s nice to know they realize how much time and energy volunteering takes. It’s an honor I don’t take lightly. It is a lot of hard work,” Delay said.

The Apple Valley Church for Whosoever begin taking enrollment for the Literacy Program two to three weeks after Apple Valley Unified School District begins the school year on Aug. 9.

For more information, call the Apple Valley Church for Whosoever at 760-242-3191.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.